The Nerd and The Brat ✔️

28. The Deal

Hello Fam :)

Sorry, it's rushed. I am in a hurry. :)

Happy Reading...

Nandini skipped the classes in the first half and went directly to the canteen to meet her friends. Taking a seat, she glared at Manik.

"I will tell you once and you keep it printed somewhere inside your brain", she said and felt satisfied when he nodded, scared. "I don't love you." When she got a nod from him again in agreement, she turned to her friends, fixing them with the fiercest glare she could manage. "You three, we aren't talking about this ever again. Is that clear?"

After successfully scaring everyone, she grabbed the glass of water and gulped a good amount from it before letting a grin spread across her lips. "Guys, I have an idea. I want Manik to contest in elections for the head boy."

She took a minute to let it sink in their heads. Surprisingly, Manik was the first one to react.

"Wha..Wh.. How did you come up with this idea? It's...It's ridiculous", he asked.

The boy was terrified and Nandini gave him the sweetest smile, almost innocent. "Eloquent enough? You don't want to do this? Why? Do you want more girlfriends like Soha hanging off your arm?", she asked.

He glared at her. Soha's name brought everyone back to their senses and she had their attention.

"Manik, you promised me you would become strong and this is like a trump card for you. You will have an authority in your hands, an extra power. No Soha, Alya, or any other person in this college would dare to hurt you. You are good at academics and I am sure you could manage both of them perfectly", she explained.

She tapped her fingers on the table as she watched him think. She thought a lot about it last night. The boy needed to be let out as much as he needed to be protected.

"An extra power makes you arrogant and leads to your destruction", he whispered, staring down at the table.

If Nandini wasn't focusing on him, she could have missed it. The way her hands instantly wrapped around his fingers, it was almost instinctive. "An extra power in the hands of a good would be nothing but the strength, both for the person and for those around him. You are a good person, Manik. No one could utilize this more constructively than you."

"But I have to work with a lot of people and.."

"The only person you will work with, other than the principal and the professors, is me. If we are meeting someone else, I would be beside you. I would help you familiarize you with everything initially", she told. She could see where his decision was inclining as the doubts cleared in his head. Her friends didn't interrupt them and she ignored every other noise. This was important.

"Why me?", he asked, looking at her and biting his lip. "Why not Cabir or Abhimanyu?"

Nandini sighed. "Abhimanyu is my best friend and hence, I know he isn't interested in this. Coming to Cabir, the way we fight with each other, I don't want another head students fiasco", she told.

Cabir protested. "Nandini, I never meant.."

She shook her head. "Cabir, I know we consider this as friendly banter. Trust me. But rumors spread in college. I have a limited number of friends and whatever we have between us, it's special. I don't want to lose it."

Uncharacteristically, she made him speechless. It's a first and Nandini felt it as an achievement but before celebrating it, she needed to work out on their initial topic of discussion. "So, Manik?", she asked, raising an eyebrow.